DirectTV Offering Refunds to Customers Protesting NFL Controversy

The NFL has been taking a lot of heat this week. After the entire league decided to protest by taking a knee, locking arms, or staying in their locker room during the national anthem - one broadcasting company is offering to refund their customers if they refuse to watch the games this season.

From KHOU, DirectTV - which carries NFL Sunday Ticket and allows fans to watch multiple games around the league - is going to allow customers to cancel their services and get refunds citing the players protesting during the national anthem as a reason.

Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

Several NFL owners along with Commissioner Roger Goodell said they supported their players’ rights to freedom of speech. However, others think it’s not a good move. The satellite TV service owned by AT&T, has been the primary provider for the NFL Sunday Ticket since 1994, and earns about $1.5 billion a year in revenue. If a large number of customers cancel their services it could hurt NFL ratings, and they've been slipping the last couple of years.

Ezra Shaw, Getty Images

An NFL spokesman says ratings overall were up 3% for Week 3 compared to last year. The increase was also due to the fact that last year’s Monday Night Football game was competing against a presidential debate.